Howrah Municipal Corporation (HMC) is efficiently collecting waste with the help of four operational compactor stations, the agency told eastern zone bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT).
The commissioner for HMC submitted an affidavit on June 11, 2024 in reply to a previous NGT order.
Legacy waste processing at the Belgachia dumping ground in Howrah began in July 2023 under the Kolkata Metropolitan Development Authority (KMDA), with the goal of processing approximately 1 million tonnes of legacy waste over the next 39 months, the affidavit stated.
The bio-mining process has already begun, with a proposal to “establish a bio-city to handle segregated wet waste from the wards,” the commissioner further stated. The by-products of legacy waste processing, including inert materials and refuse-derived fuel, were being disposed of in accordance with the provisions of Solid Waste Management Rules, 2016.
More than 270,000 tonnes of legacy waste have already been processed, and 1.74 acres of land have been reclaimed at the Belgachia trenching ground’s zone 3, according to the affidavit.
The State Urban Development Agency (SUDA) intends to build a 100 tonnes per day biogas plant to process a portion of segregated fresh wet waste. Furthermore, a United Nations Development Programme-funded plastic waste management project with a capacity of 10 tonnes has already been completed and installed in Belgachia, the commissioner stated.
Extensive efforts were made to identify alternative locations for establishing a trenching ground throughout the city. However, these initiatives failed due to a lack of a suitable parcel of land needed to establish another dump site capable of meeting Howrah’s needs, where waste generation averages 670 tonnes per day, the report said.
HMC stated that they have started projects with the West Bengal government, SUDA, and KMDA to manage waste at the Belgachia dump site using bio-mining. This method processes old waste, helping reclaim land to build facilities for processing new waste according to Solid Waste Management Rules.
Segregated waste collection services at sources are currently available in 11 wards. Plans are in place to expand these services to an additional 14 wards. These services are expected to be implemented in all fifty wards of HMC within the near future, the affidavit said.
The Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) has observed road damage on the Wagholi-Bhavadi-Lonikand road stretch in Pune during a site visit, it stated in a report submitted to the NGT. It noted dust resuspension due to vehicle movement and stated that air quality monitoring and a detailed investigation would be conducted.
The NGT taken up the case and asked MPCB for a report after a news article titled Wagholi residents hit the roads was published in newspaper Pune Mirror on February 11, 2024.
More than 100 Wagholi residents had staged a rasta roko protest against the unguarded movement of trucks, which not only caused dust pollution, but also damaged roads and increased the risk of accidents, the report stated.
MPCB inspected the Wagholi-Bhavadi-Lonikand road, which connects to the Pune-Nagar highway. The officials noted the presence of residential societies such as Alfa Landmark, Post Lakeside, Skywater, Lake Paradise Society, Dhaval Shivtirth and a defence colony nearby.
The team observed approximately 70-80 trucks or dumpers travelling on the road every hour, all covered with tarpaulins to prevent dust emissions during transportation.
The MPCB report dated March 21, 2024 was uploaded to the NGT site on June 15, 2024.